The good news is my class is going great. They are taking to the new games I made to introduce sight words and work on phonics. They love the money game so much that I wish we weren’t about to move onto measurement in math.
In all subjects there is quite a discrepancy in ability and I’m working on putting groups together to develop more directed lessons and start scaffolded centers in the upcoming weeks. My coworkers are great and its nice to have some experienced ESL teachers to bounce things off of; I’ve introduced them to ActivInspire and they’ve shared some great lessons and websites like http://www.barryfunenglish.com/ or http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/.
Our “favorite” student is slowly making progress but likes to roll around on his desk and the floor instead of doing his work and I’ve had to remove him from class a handful of times for physical behavior. I met with my administration today after his mom came in and we developed a plan that I’m hoping will keep him from continuing to aggravate his peers and teachers. His parents are on board and I think this is the first time anything like this has been attempted for him. He’s a sweet kid and one of my smartest; I can’t wait to see him progress socially too!
Given my previous teaching experience the meeting wasn’t that out of the ordinary even though it may have been a first at this school. In Korea students that need a little extra attention often slip through the cracks due to strong cultural traditions. Some other traditions that made today more out of the ordinary were apparently related to an inspection we had.
In the afternoon I had two gentleman walk into my room and tell me they were “taking measurements.” They produced a laser measure and quickly wrote down the dimensions of my classroom. They proceeded to do this for all of the rooms and I thought nothing of it. I tried to enter the teacher’s room after school to laminate some word wheels and sight word Uno and turned the corner to find the doors locked and the hallway dark.
“Can I use the laminater?” I asked
“Better not” the secretary with a thick accent
“Why?”
“He is in there.”
“Oh? When can I go in?”
“Maybe 5:30?”
I went upstairs to consult with my coworker. We both laughed at the absurdity of it all trying to figure out what the measurements could have been for and why a hallway would be dark and on lockdown. I found out some windows & signs were covered up next to the Music, Art, Chinese classrooms along with a few other rooms. It was all incredibly strange and she suggested I go talk to Colin.
Since I was still unable to use the teacher’s room I hopped down a floor to Colin’s room to try and puzzle this one out. The only reason we could come up with for measuring classrooms was to put in a rug or some other flooring (unlikely given their financial predicament), maybe to paint? (also costly) or perhaps to sell?
There was plenty of speculation and it may all in fact be routine during an inspection but Colin let me know that we had an inspection about a month ago that left the admins unhappy. He theorized our school may not be following all of the guidelines they are supposed to, for instance we are an “international” school by name but in Korea, International schools aren’t allowed to teach certain subjects, like Music, Art or Chinese. We discussed some other less anonymous “sketchy” happenings and coincidences but we don’t really know whats going on.
We talked for a while longer but without any real evidence its all just theory so our discussion went towards collaborating on future lessons. I helped him install ActivInspire and find flipchart about the Solar System while he gave me the school password for www.barryfunenglish.com and showed me his students’ favorite links. He thinks the next paycheck may be delayed as a result of a sour inspection but I’m still hopeful it’ll be on time; frankly I don’t want to deal with the fallout of another tardy set of wages.
In spite of it all I continue enjoy my students and the work here. Life in Korea is fun and I’m definitely progressing with the language. I can read at about a Kindergarten level and can have a VERY basic conversation. I am looking to start a conversation exchange class next month and am just waiting to take the placement test. If something does turn south at this school it makes the silver lining is I can find a higher paying job with better vacation without dealing with a “letter of release” for my visa.
